St Bernard’s juggernaut continues to roll on while Williamstown snatch their second win

It was tipped to be a ‘ding-dong’ battle, but the Snowdog’s have blitzed Fitzroy as they emerge as conspicuous premiership favourites and the hunted team in Premier B Men’s. On a day where the club celebrated its 60^th anniversary, they were able to leave the field with smiles after overcoming what was thought to be their biggest challenge this season.

St Bernards were out to a quick start in the opening quarter of football with five goals to two as the margin pushed out to 22 points at quarter time over Fitzroy. It was here where they continued to pile on the scoreboard pressure with the Roy’s unable to find any ascendency going forward. 19 scoring shots to seven at half time illustrated the Snowdog’s dominance. However, their inaccuracy in front of the big sticks could have seen the half time margin become more confronting for the Roys.

Joe Agresta was huge for the Snowdog’s with a goal and best on ground performance. The scoring power across the board at Bernards was a feature with 10 individual goal kickers. Leading the charge was Marcus Holland with three majors along with Charlie Vague, Luke Di Lizio, Fergus McNicol and Luca Alessio all kicking two goals.

The 67-point win for St Bernard’s now puts them on top of the ladder and one game clear of Fitzroy. For the Roys, Rhys Seakins battled hard throughout the afternoon being voted their best player with Sean Laidlaw also kicking two.

De La Salle have made it two consecutive wins as they pulled away to win by 18 points against Old Geelong at Waverley Oval. De La Salle shot clear at quarter time with a 28-point lead, but the margin was cut back to 10 points at half time as Old Geelong hit back with five second term goals. The second half of footy was controlled by De La Salle who were able to stifle the attack of Old Geelong and hold them at bay.

Thomas Filipovic was De La Salle’s best with Thomas Lyngberg also booting three goals, along with Josh Cumberlidge and Adrian Indovino who both finished with two goals. As for Old Geelong, they were kept in the contest by Connor Dixon who blasted four majors with Scott Dixon also kicking two majors to mount a challenge.

Williamstown CYMS have recorded their second win of the season with an upset victory over Old Trinity by 31 points. Leading at every change, Williamstown CYMS burst clear before half time in the second quarter extending their lead to 25 points at the main break which put them in the box seat throughout the second half.

Oskar Manton, Will Bokma and William Smyth all finished with three majors and kept busy down forward, while Jai Haines found plenty of the footy and provided quality service with a best on ground performance. For Trinity, they remain with just the three wins to begin the season after dropping down from Premier. Thomas Rowland was strong for the T’s on the weekend with Harry Thompson also chipping in with a sound effort.

The final two games of the round ended with significant wins to both St Bedes/Mentone and Beaumaris.

St Bedes/Mentone were able to pile on eight final quarter goals to one which squared the game largely in their favour for a percentage booster over Monash Blues. Brayden O’Toole was the leading goal kicker on the ground with seven majors to advance his season total to 19. Jack Ferraro was also in superb form with a best on ground performance for the Tigers. The Blues were assisted by Sam Simpson who did his best to keep them in the contest with two goals being named as their best player.

Meanwhile, the final game of the round saw Beaumaris produce a blistering 100-point win. They kicked thirteen goals in the opening half of football with eight arriving in the first quarter restricting AJAX to a total score of 39 points. Joel Cusack did a power of work down forward with seven goals earning him a best on ground performance. Jack Nardino was back to his best form with three goals to his name as well as their star ruckman in Callum Heath who also kicked three goals.

With the King’s Birthday this coming weekend all teams will have the chance to rest up and reload for the middle period of the season. At this point of the year, St Bernard’s will well and truly be the hunted team in the competition, but the loss to Fitzroy, while deflating, will only provide them with key learnings as to the standard of football that is required to be competitive with stronger sides recently exposed to Premier football. Although the ladder at this stage is strung out, the battle for fourth spot continues to be an intriguing one with De La Salle, Old Geelong, and St Bedes/Mentone all sitting around a similar mark, and Old Trinity still in touching distance.